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Business Officials Pilot Consulting, Cost-Share Programs To Address Child Care Shortage

West Virginia business officials are launching two new programs that aim to make operating and accessing child care easier in the Mountain State.

In 2023, an estimated 20,000 West Virginia children under age six were unable to receive child care due to capacity issues, according to an August 2024 report from the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy.

Will Miller, interim state director for the West Virginia Small Business Development Center (SBDC), sees that as a workforce issue. The less parents can rely on child care centers, the less likely they are to reenter the workforce as their children age.

“That’s one of the big impacts of the child care problem in the state,” Miller said. “People want to keep working. But they can’t find enough spots for child care, or they can’t afford to put the kid in child care and then work at the same time.”

That is a major reason the SBDC is launching a pair of dual pilot programs under a new project entitled “Childcare West Virginia: Building the Business that Supports Business.”

The project will encompass two new interventions from the state, which Miller said the SBDC hopes can reduce barriers to both operating and accessing child care services.

The Childcare Business Assistance Program

The SBDC’s Childcare Business Assistance (CBA) program looks to support the owners of for-profit child care facilities across the state. The program will provide financial training to newly registered child care providers, and longer-term financial consulting for child care centers already in place.

This advisory support aims to help child care businesses “so that they can be sustainable” and “add more employees, therefore add more spots for kids and therefore keep more people in the workforce,” Miller said.

The SBDC will provide training and consultation support through Wonderschool, a company that provides “comprehensive child care solutions,” according to its website. Wonderschool already operates in communities across the country affected by child care shortages, according to Miller.

If a new child care business were to seek out support from the SBDC, Miller said his organization could ask Wonderschool to audit their finances and identify ways to save more money and improve services.

“Through coaching, they would go from ideas through the sign-up process, through all the legal boxes,” Miller said. “I mean, top to bottom, take you from idea to door open.”

The CBA program is actively reviewing new businesses to work with through the Wonderschool website.

Parents, child care providers and advocates marched through the State Capitol in August to urge lawmakers and former Gov. Jim Justice to address the state’s growing child care crisis.

*Photo Credit: Briana Heaney/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

West Virginia Tri-Share

The other program, known as West Virginia Tri-Share, is a cost-share program that splits child care expenses between a resident, their employer and, through the SBDC, the state.

By using state dollars to partially subsidize child care, Miller said the SBDC could help more parents reenter the workforce without financial hang-ups.

“The whole design of this is the child care provider still makes what they have to make just to keep the lights on,” Miller said. “The employer has a benefit they can give to their employees to keep a good staff. And then the employee can lessen the burden of their child care costs and make it worth their while to stay in the workforce.”

Miller said the Tri-Share program follows a similar program enacted in Michigan, and will work with places of employment that volunteer to participate. The program will formally begin in March, and interested businesses can find more information on the Wonderschool website.

A First Step

The pilot programs will begin on a limited basis, servicing just eight counties in the state: Boone, Jackson, Kanawha, Lincoln, Mason, Putnam, Roane and Wirt counties.

The Appalachian Regional Commission funded both programs through economic development grants, which go toward regions of Appalachia affected by the decline of the coal industry.

The grant request was submitted by the SBDC in conjunction with the West Virginia Economic Development Office, West Virginia’s Workforce Resiliency Office and Wonderschool.

Miller said he does not see the programs as a catch-all solution to the state’s child care crisis, but rather a first step toward identifying solutions.

“It addresses something that is pretty epidemic around the country,” he said. “Now, this isn’t a silver bullet that’s going to fix everything. But [with] this program, we’re trying to attack it from a different angle.”

Throughout the pilot process, Miller said the SBDC and its partners will monitor the programs’ results on participating counties and businesses. If they prove successful, he said they hope to expand the services to all 55 West Virginia counties in the future.

“We’re starting with these counties, and we’re hoping we can have success and learn from this, adjust what we’re doing from this, and roll it out across the whole state,” Miller said.

W.Va.’s Apple Industry Is Still Hurting. Growers Hope New Administrations Will Renew Aid

As the apple industry continues to struggle, West Virginia growers hope a change in government administrations won’t mark the end of federal and state aid.

Apple trees barren from the recent winter frost span miles of backroad in West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle. In a few months, the trees will flower; come autumn, they will bear local growers bushels of ripe fruit.

Blossoming apple trees are a familiar sight for the region and play a key role in the local agriculture industry. But federal and state officials say market woes have placed the future of West Virginia’s orchards at risk.

That is a reality Don Dove, general manager for Orr’s Farm Market in Martinsburg, has felt first hand.

Dove says demand for his apple supply has waned. One-third of the apples his team grows go toward food processing, but processing companies have requested fewer and fewer apples since 2023. That year, about 20 percent of his total apple crop went unclaimed, he said.

“It added a real big stress onto our crop there, right off the bat, as soon as we started picking,” he said. “That’s when we knew we had a problem.”

Orchards remain in jeopardy

Dove is not alone. The importation of apples and apple concentrates for food processing from countries with lower labor costs has widely displaced domestic growers.

In early 2024, retail prices for apples grown in the United States fell to a three-year low, according to Catharine Weber, agricultural economist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Economic Research Service.

Weber delivered data on the current state of the U.S. apple industry through a prerecorded video presentation at a regional forum Thursday. The event was hosted by the Farmlink Project, a nonprofit that helps domestic farmers redistribute excess produce to eliminate food waste.

Farmlink invited apple growers from across Appalachia to the event. The afternoon forum followed a tri-state meeting that morning, which aimed to familiarize Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia farmers with various forms of state and federal aid available to agriculture businesses in Appalachia.

Farmlink organizers used the second meeting to inform Appalachian growers like Dove about the state of the apple industry and solicit feedback over how to best support their business needs.

“These are wonderful farming families from wonderful communities that have got the most nutritious produce item we could have — and that is the apple — to improve food insecurity and nutrition health in our country,” said Mike Meyer, head of farmer advocacy for Farmlink.

At his orchard, Dove said the fallout from West Virginia’s apple market issues has not been as severe as it could have been. That is because orchards like Orr’s Farm Market found support from the state and federal government and their work with Farmlink.

Apple growers from Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia met in Martinsburg Thursday to discuss the state of the apple industry with the nonprofit Farmlink Project.

*Photo Credit: Jack Walker/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

When the state stepped in

In 2023, the USDA allocated $10 million to the West Virginia Department of Agriculture (WVDA) through the Agricultural Adjustment Act, a 1933 law that allows the government to subsidize agricultural oversupply. The USDA provided a subsequent $3.1 million in 2024.

The WVDA allocated this funding to nonprofits like Farmlink, which coordinated the distribution of extra apples to food banks and hunger relief programs nationwide, while paying farmers for the produce.

Between September and December 2024, Farmlink distributed 18 million pounds of West Virginia-grown apples to food insecurity charities, Meyer said. 3.3 million pounds of apples were sent to recipients within the state, including 49 charities.

“We hope to grow the program,” Meyer said. “We’ve been successful in West Virginia for two years. It’s a large, team effort.”

Jody Sims works for Kitchen’s Farm Market, an apple and produce business based in the Berkeley County community of Falling Waters. Last year marked her first time working with Farmlink, and she said the redistribution process was a boon for business.

“They have been amazing. They help with finding food banks that are willing to take the loads,” she said. “20, 30 minutes later, they’re calling you back: ‘Hey, I got a truck coming. How many loads you got?’”

Meyer said Farmlink hopes to model its work in surrounding states around its partnership with West Virginia state officials. This could help regional apple growers through a tough spot, he said.

But the future of efforts like these depends on a renewal of government funding. With new elected officials being inaugurated on both the state and federal levels this month, Meyer said Farmlink is reaching out to new administrations to keep programs like these going.

Barren amid the off-season frost, fruit trees stretch across the property of Orr’s Farm Market in rural Berkeley County.

*Photo Credit: Jack Walker/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

An uncertain season ahead

Meyer said it is unlikely for demand issues in the apple industry to end soon.

“When I think about 2025, I think it will be a similar supply situation to 2023 and 2024,” Meyer said. “I think, unfortunately, some of these markets are gone for good — particularly in the eastern United States.”

Federal officials with the USDA are currently looking into long-term solutions, but Meyer and the team at Farmlink are hoping a new slate of elected officials will renew shorter-term forms of aid in the interim.

Amie Minor-Richard serves as assistant commissioner of the WVDA, under recently reelected Commissioner Kent Leonhardt. She said there is no “one direct program” that will solve issues in the industry, but that the WVDA hopes state and federal representatives will provide farmers broad support.

Minor-Richard said the WVDA’s is advocating for a reexamination of policies surrounding apple importation to ensure that domestic farmers “are on a level playing field.”

“We don’t want to lose our apple orchards here in the United States, because then we’ll have to depend on foreign countries to provide us our nutrition,” she said. “That’s a scary, scary idea.”

The WVDA is advocating for a higher tax credit for farmers donating excess produce, in addition to a renewal of redistribution support for the state’s apple growers, Minor-Richard said.

But funding for redistribution support from groups like Farmlink has previously come from budget appropriations on the federal level. In the past two years, former Sen. Joe Manchin led the effort to secure this funding.

With Manchin’s seat now filled by the state’s former governor, Sen. Jim Justice, R-W.Va., Minor-Richard said the WVDA intends to discuss the program with the Justice administration.

While Minor-Richard said Justice was supportive of agriculture in the past, his delayed inauguration meant these conversations are yet to take place. She added that WVDA have also reached out to the office of incumbent Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., regarding federal forms of aid.

“We hope to have those conversations in February,” Minor-Richard said.

In the meantime, farmers like Dove are bracing for a season of uncertainty ahead. Without financial support from the government, he worries that the Eastern Panhandle’s apple industry could face serious risk.

“It really could fold up quickly without the proper funding and proper safety net,” he said.

This story was distributed by the Appalachia + Mid-South Newsroom, a collaboration between West Virginia Public Broadcasting, WPLN and WUOT in Tennessee, LPM, WEKU, WKMS and WKYU in Kentucky and NPR.

Martinsburg Forum Connects Region’s Farmers With State, Federal Aid

Dozens of people packed into a farmhouse at a Martinsburg apple orchard Thursday for a regional forum on food business, and the federal and state financial support available to food entrepreneurs in the Appalachian region.

The tri-state food systems meeting was hosted by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service, the USDA Regional Food Business Centers Program and the FarmLink Project, a nonprofit that helps growers redistribute their excess produce.

The meeting aimed to introduce residents of Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia to business development grants and resources, and to solicit feedback from farmers regarding regional experiences in the food and farming industries.

The meeting paid particular focus to the region’s apple industry, which has in recent years been plagued with market and demand issues.

This has affected commercial orchards that grow apples for food processing most acutely. Some farmer advocates say the importation of apple ingredients from foreign countries with lower labor costs have reduced domestic sales, and placed the future of the U.S. apple industry at risk.

Sophia Adelle, head of policy and advocacy for FarmLink, said this makes helping farmers access support and business resources more urgent.

“These apple growers have seen a moment of surplus due to the complete and total loss of their processing markets,” she said. “FarmLink really stepped in, patchworking together both state and federal support.”

Thursday’s forum was held at Orr’s Farm Market, an apple orchard and produce business with locations in Martinsburg, pictured here, and Shenandoah Junction.

*Photo Credit: Jack Walker/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Adelle said many grants and loans exist on the federal and state levels for agriculture businesses, but that the application process for these programs can place a burden on farmers.

“That’s really difficult for a lot of farmers in this country who are just trying to make ends meet,” she said. “They don’t have the time or the resources to apply for those grants and those loans. So we’re seeing a lot of challenges with our agricultural trade, and a lot of imports coming in.”

Adelle said introducing Appalachian farmers and entrepreneurs to the resources out there makes the process easier.

Kim Watt runs an apple growing business that spans Hampshire County as well as Frederick County, Virginia. She said FarmLink has already helped her business sell excess produce, but that Thursday’s forum showed her how many more resources are available.

“We have actually not applied for grants in the past. So today has been a very enlightening experience for me to even know what is out there,” she said. “I think sometimes that’s your biggest obstacle. You don’t know where to start or what’s available.”

For Watt, an added perk of the meeting was being in the same room as several other people in the industry, as well as individuals who run programs that support farmers. This created connections that stretch beyond any one meeting, she said.

“I’ve met some incredible folks through USDA, and they all work in different capacities, but they are just a huge advocate for us,” she said. “I just want to thank everybody for taking the time to meet with us farmers and growers.

“I mean, 2% of America, that’s it — we’re the farmers,” Watt continued. “But we’re responsible for feeding all of America.”

Manchin Scuttles Biden’s Nominee For Labor Relations Board

Lauren McFerran’s term expires on Monday. If she isn’t confirmed and Biden doesn’t nominate anyone else, Republicans will have the majority on the board after President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin is leaving Capitol Hill next month, but his vote still counts and can be decisive in a closely divided Senate.

Manchin, a Democrat-turned-Independent, was the deciding vote Wednesday against President Joe Biden’s nominee for the National Labor Relations Board.

By a vote of 49-50, the Senate rejected the renomination of NLRB chair Lauren McFerran.

McFerran’s term expires on Monday. If she isn’t confirmed and Biden doesn’t nominate anyone else, Republicans will have the majority on the board after President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

Business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, opposed McFerran’s nomination. Unions, including the AFL-CIO, supported her.

The NLRB, created in 1935, ensures workers’ right to organize and seek better working conditions.

This isn’t the first time Manchin has thwarted one of Biden’s nominees. He opposed confirming Julie Su to be Secretary of Labor. Su has been serving as acting secretary since last year.

He blocked the nomination last year of Laura Daniel-Davis to oversee oil and gas leasing at the Department of the Interior. And in 2021, he opposed the nomination of Neera Tanden to be director of the Office of Management and Budget.

In recent months, he’s also voted against confirming several of Biden’s judicial nominees.

Manchin is retiring next month after 14 years in the Senate. Gov. Jim Justice will succeed him.

Hundreds Of Medical Workers Unionize At Logan County Hospital

Nearly 300 staff members at Logan Regional Medical Center now have union representation.

Updated on Monday, November 25 at 2:28 p.m.

Staff members at a Logan County hospital have unionized.

Nearly 300 workers at Logan Regional Medical Center voted on Thursday to become represented by United Steelworkers (USW), a general trade union backing roughly 850,000 workers across North America.

Workers at Logan Regional began organizing about staffing levels roughly one year ago, according to a press release from the union.

USW said the new representation will help workers bargain over wages, communicate with management and promote workplace transparency.

Located in the city of Logan, Logan Regional is an acute care facility with 132 beds for patients. Workers on site range from registered nurses to respiratory therapists to phlebotomists.

Canaan Varney, a Logan Regional registered nurse, described Thursday’s vote as a “victory” for workers in the Friday press release.

“This isn’t just a win; it’s a turning point,” Varney said. “Now that we’re unionized, we expect change. We expect fair wages for our work and a voice in the decisions that impact our lives and our community.”

Larry Ray serves as USW director for District 8, which includes Kentucky, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia. He said the union is “thrilled” to represent hospital staff in Logan County.

“These new members work around the clock to care for the small, tight-knit community of Logan,” Ray said in the press release. By voting to unionize, they “have taken a critical next step in their ability to do their jobs with excellence, retain talented health care workers and provide exceptional care.”

Logan Regional CEO David Brash said the hospital “respects the right” of workers to unionize in a written statement shared with West Virginia Public Broadcasting through a media representative.

“We thank our hospital employees for their continued professionalism during the past few weeks, and we encourage all employees to continue to focus on patient care and supporting each other while the collective bargaining process plays out,” he said. “Whether part of a union or not, we are all part of a team committed to providing high-quality, compassionate care to every patient who chooses Logan Regional for their health care needs.”

**Editor’s Note: This story was updated to include a comment from Logan Regional Medical Center CEO David Brash.

Berkeley County IRS Data Center Will Transition Away From Fossil Fuels

A national data hub in West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle will soon transition away from fossil fuels and toward net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.

Located in the Berkeley County community of Kearneysville, the Enterprise Computing Center (ECC) is one of the largest Internal Revenue Service (IRS) data centers, processing data for taxpayers across the United States.

Running the 1,800-kilowatt facility requires major energy usage. New federal funding at the site aims to help it become more energy efficient.

On Oct. 29, the United States Department of Energy (DOE) announced that the facility received a $2.2 million grant to begin its transition away from fossil fuels. It marks an early step toward a larger $23 million project that will take place at the site in the coming years.

The federal investment will allow the facility to electrify its heating and hot water systems, and later implement heat pump cooling technologies, according to a DOE project description. The department estimates these changes will “reduce utility energy consumption by 34 percent, saving $1.3 million annually.”

Groundwork for the project was laid in 2020, when the DOE issued the facility a $500,000 grant for a study on the project’s implementation and effects, according to Tyler Harris with the DOE Federal Energy Management Program.

Harris serves as director of the Assisting Federal Facilities with Energy Conservation Technologies (AFFECT) Program, which selects grant recipients like the ECC and distributes their funding. Since its founding in 2014, Harris said the AFFECT program has led a national effort to help federal facilities pursue cheaper and more efficient energy resources.

“If a building needs fuel oil, natural gas and electricity to keep it running, suddenly you need to back up three different fuel sources,” Harris said. “But if you can turn the whole building so it’s 100 percent electricity, then you only need to back up one source of fuel.”

By streamlining energy consumption, protecting a facility’s energy reserves could be as simple as using batteries or on-site solar panels, Harris said.

Other projects funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Assisting Federal Facilities with Energy Conservation Technologies program include solar panel installations.

*Photo Credit: United States Department of Energy*

“Changing buildings to all electric is something that the federal government is really pushing, because it really allows agencies to meet their mission long term, and provides resiliency that they need,” he said.

Harris said the $2.2 million grant is “the base project” for a facility-wide energy transition at the ECC. The wider project is privately funded, but receives millions in additional funds for the energy costs it saves by transitioning to a cheaper energy source, he said.

The ECC was one of 67 federal facilities that received AFFECT funding this year around the country. Other projects ranged from wind energy installations to geothermal heat pumps, with the goal of turning sites into “all-electric buildings,” Harris said.

The AFFECT program awarded a total of $149.87 million to projects in 28 states and six international sites this year. It was funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2021.

Federal administrators hope it can promote energy security in light of emerging environmental concerns.

“It is imperative that federal facilities are able to operate in the face of increasingly intense extreme weather events,” U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said in the Oct. 29 DOE press release.

While no other projects in West Virginia received funding this year, the DOE Legacy Management Business Center in Morgantown previously received funding for its own study on how to transition the building toward electric energy.

Harris said positive impacts from the ECC project can extend beyond the facility itself.

“Allowing this project to happen in this particular facility will not only improve air quality in the direct area, but it also provides jobs,” he said. “Not only for construction, but long-term maintenance of these new and emerging technologies.”

A timeline for the project’s implementation has not yet been announced. Harris said processing funding can take up to 18 months, and that completing the project could take up to an additional two years.